What a cannabis social club is

In Spain, a cannabis social club is a private, non-profit association of adults. Each member joins in their own name and agrees to the same set of rules, and members meet in a private space. It isn't open to the public.

Non-profit means the association exists for its members, not to make money.

You'll also hear them called cannabis clubs, cannabis associations or weed clubs. All of these names mean the same kind of private members' association.

Much of what's said online about how cannabis clubs work in Spain is out of date or oversimplified. This guide sets out, in plain English, what Spanish law and the courts have actually said, and what that means for anyone thinking about membership.

No law regulates them

Spain has no national law that regulates cannabis associations, and no regional law in force does so either. Navarre and Catalonia passed laws on them, and both were struck down. The Basque Country has a provision that survives only in a very narrow sense. There's more on that below.

So cannabis associations don't have a law of their own. What applies to them is the general law, starting with the Criminal Code.

Article 368 of the Spanish Criminal Code makes it a crime to traffic in illegal drugs, to "otherwise promote, encourage or facilitate" their illegal consumption, or to possess them for those purposes. Using cannabis is not, in itself, a criminal offence in Spain. But not being a crime doesn't mean it has no consequences: using or carrying it in public is an administrative offence under the public safety law (Organic Law 4/2015, Article 36.16).

Two more points are worth knowing:

  • Being entered in a register of associations does not authorise any activity involving cannabis. Registration is not a licence.
  • Under Instruction 2/2013 of Spain's State Public Prosecutor's Office (Fiscalía General del Estado), prosecutors look at what an association actually does, not only at what its statutes say.

In other words, the paperwork doesn't settle the question. What happens day to day matters.

What the Supreme Court said in 2015

The key case is ruling 484/2015, handed down in September 2015 by the full criminal chamber of the Supreme Court. The court held that the organised, ongoing distribution of cannabis among a large association open to new members falls within Article 368.

That case didn't end there:

  1. In ruling 146/2017, the Constitutional Court annulled that conviction on procedural grounds.
  2. In February 2018, in ruling 91/2018, the Supreme Court acquitted the same defendants, because it could not rule out that they genuinely believed they were acting lawfully. It repeated, however, that the conduct itself falls within Article 368.

The Supreme Court followed the same reasoning in later cases, including rulings 596/2015 (5 October 2015) and 788/2015 (9 December 2015). In 2018 the Constitutional Court annulled both of those convictions too, because the defendants had been convicted on appeal without being heard in person (rulings 36/2018 and 37/2018).

In ruling 563/2016 (27 June 2016), the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of two directors of an association on the basis of an "unavoidable mistake of law": in the particular circumstances of that case, it accepted that they could have believed they were acting lawfully. The court did not declare the activity itself lawful.

This is where the courts' position is easy to misread. Some people in these cases were acquitted, and some convictions were annulled. But the acquittals turned on what the people involved could reasonably believe, and the annulments turned on how they had been convicted. None of these rulings declared the activity itself lawful. And in ruling 91/2018, the Supreme Court cited several later rulings, including 596/2015, 788/2015 and 563/2016, as repeating its 2015 reading of Article 368.

Navarre, Catalonia and the Basque Country

Navarre and Catalonia each passed a law on cannabis associations, and the Basque Country included a provision on them in a wider law on addictions. All three went to the Constitutional Court.

  • Navarre. Its 2014 law on cannabis users' collectives was struck down by ruling 144/2017 (14 December 2017).
  • Catalonia. Its 2017 law on cannabis consumers' associations was struck down by ruling 100/2018 (19 September 2018).

The reason was the same both times. Under Article 149.1.6 of the Spanish Constitution, only the State can make criminal law, and the court held that each regional law had strayed into it.

The Basque provision, Article 83 of a 2016 law on addictions, had a different outcome. In ruling 29/2018 (8 March 2018), the Constitutional Court let it stand, but only on a narrow reading: all it does is require associations of adult cannabis users to collaborate with the health authorities. The court pointed out that it does not say members may obtain cannabis through the association, or use it on its premises.

So the Basque article survives, but nothing in the ruling gives associations a legal basis for supplying cannabis to their members. That brings us back to the start: no regional law in force regulates cannabis associations, in Andalusia or anywhere else.

What membership usually involves

Because no law regulates them, each association sets its own requirements. The details vary, but a careful association usually works along the same lines:

  • Adults only. Every member is 18 or over.
  • An original identity document. You show the original, not a photo or a copy.
  • An application in your own name. The association reviews each application.
  • Agreeing to the rules. You read the association's rules and agree to them when you join.
  • Personal membership. It can't be shared, lent or transferred.
  • Consumption on the premises only. It's limited to the club itself.
  • A register of members. The association keeps one to manage its membership.

At Honey, you apply in your own name, with your original photo ID: you can start on WhatsApp or by email, and registration is completed at the club. See how membership works.

What a careful association doesn't do

Even without a law of their own, associations are still subject to the general law. Article 368 doesn't only cover trafficking: it also covers otherwise promoting, encouraging or facilitating illegal consumption. The Criminal Code treats that conduct as more serious when it takes place in establishments open to the public, by the people who run them or work there, or when drugs are provided to anyone under 18 (Article 369.1).

So a careful association stays well clear of promoting cannabis use and of opening its doors to the public:

  • It doesn't advertise. No adverts, no flyers, no promotions, and nothing that encourages people to use cannabis.
  • It doesn't use street promoters. Nobody stands on the pavement bringing people in, and nobody earns anything for signing up new members.
  • It isn't open to the public. Only members use the club, and members can't bring guests.
  • It doesn't treat membership as a formality. Each application is reviewed, every applicant shows an original identity document, and every new member reads the rules.
  • It doesn't let anyone under 18 in. Not as a member, and not for any other reason.

None of these is a rule written in a statute. Following them doesn't change what the Criminal Code says, and it doesn't make an association's activity lawful. They're simply the habits of an association that takes the law seriously.

Visitors and residents

Can tourists join cannabis clubs in Spain? It's a common question, and there's no simple yes or no.

No law regulates cannabis associations, so Spanish law doesn't say anything specific about visitors or residents joining one. Each association sets its own requirements and reviews its own applications, so the answer depends on the association. A general guide like this one can't give it.

The law outside is the same for everyone. In the street, on the beach or on public transport, using or carrying cannabis is an administrative offence, whether you live here all year or you're only here for a week. Being a member of an association doesn't change that.

If you live on this coast all year, our guide Cannabis club membership for people who live here looks at what membership involves day to day. For the wider picture, from public places to driving, see Is weed legal in Spain?

Curious how Honey does it? Read our club rules.

Sources

All sources are official Spanish documents, in Spanish.

This is general information about Spanish law, not legal advice. Laws and court rulings change. For your own situation, please speak to a qualified lawyer.

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